TURKEY

Osman Murat Ülke - conscientious objector jailed

Turkey does not recognize the right to conscientious objection to military service. Osman
Murat Ülke, chairperson of the now banned Izmir War Resisters' Association (ISKD), was
detained in Izmir on 7 October 1996, more than one year after he publicly burned his
call-up papers and declared in a press conference on 1 September 1995 that, as a pacifist,
he would not perform any military service.

In 1995 Osman Murat Ülke, together with three members of the Istanbul War
Resisters' Association (subsequently also closed down) had been prosecuted by the
Military Court of General Staff for violating Article 155 of the Turkish Penal Code -
"alienating the people from military service". His three fellow-defendants were found
guilty and sentenced, but he himself was acquitted. One year later, in 1996, he faced
renewed prosecution on the same charge.

On 8 October Osman Murat Ülke was formally arrested on written orders from
the Military Court of General Staff in Ankara. On 11 October he was transferred from
Izmir to Ankara for interrogation by the military prosecutor and initially held at the civilian
Ankara Central Closed Prison, together with political prisoners.

On 14 October Osman Murat Ülke was transferred to Mamak Military Prison in

Ankara where he refused to put on a military uniform and to obey military orders. As
punishment for insubordination he was put in solitary confinement for five days.

On 19 November 1996 Osman Murat Ülke was put on trial at the Military Court
of the General Staff in Ankara. He was charged, under Article 155 of the Turkish Penal
Code in conjunction with Article 58 of the Military Penal Code, with "alienating the public
from the institution of military service", by publicly burning his call-up papers and
declaring his conscientious objection to military service. The two-hour hearing was
adjourned until 24 December and Osman Murat Ülke was formally released, only to be
taken by gendarmes from the court to the military prison and from there to the
recruitment office to begin his military service.

On 22 November Osman Murat Ülke was sent to his military unit, the 9th
Gendarmerie Training Unit for conscripts in the northwestern town of Bileçik, from
where he was transferred on 26 November to the military prison in Eski_ehir to stand trial
at the Disciplinary Military Court in Eski_ehir for refusing to obey orders.

On 24 December 1996 another hearing took place in the trial at the Military Court
of the General Staff in Ankara. Osman Murat Ülke, who was still being held at the military

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prison in Eski_ehir, was not brought to the hearing. The trial was adjourned to 28 January
1997.

On 27 December 1996 the trial at Eski_ehir Military Court against Osman Murat
Ülke for his refusal to wear military uniform continued. The court released him at the end
of the hearing which was adjourned to 30 January 1997. In a public statement made after
his release, Osman Murat Ülke said that he would not report to the military recruitment
office of his own free will, as ordered by the court.

On 28 January 1997 the Military Court of the General Staff in Ankara sentenced
Osman Murat Ülke to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 540,000 Turkish Lira
(approx. $ 5) for “alienating the public from the institution of military service” by publicly
declaring his conscientious objection to military service and burning his call-up papers in
September 1995.

In his defence speech Osman Murat Ülke stated that “having the right to life also
means having the responsibility not to cause death. Killing a person is the most obvious
way of violating the right to life. Therefore, conscientious objection is not only a right for
me, but also it is my responsibility”. He was then asked what had happened since the last
hearing and he reported that he had not returned to the 9th Gendarmerie Training Unit in
Bileçik, as ordered by the military court in Eski_ehir on 27 December. When called a
“deserter” by the judge, Osman Murat Ülke replied, “I am not a deserter, I am a
conscientious objector”.

At the end of the hearing before the sentence was handed down, Osman Murat
Ülke, who had been released at a previous trial hearing, was detained again by the
gendarmerie and later taken to Mamak Military Prison where he could be visited by his
lawyers the following day.

On 30 January the trial at the Military Court in Eski_ehir for “continuing

disobedience” resumed in Osman Murat Ülke’s absence to be adjourned to 6 March for
sentencing. On 6 March 1997 Osman Murat Ülke was sentenced to five months’
imprisonment.

On 18 February 1997 the Military Court of the General Staff in Ankara opened a
new trial against Osman Murat Ülke and a further 11 defendants from the Turkish
Human Rights Association (IHD) and the banned Izmir War Resisters’ Association, again
on charges of "alienating the public from the institution of military service". The reason is a
book published by the IHD in July 1996which contains speeches held, and messages sent,
on the occasion of the IHD’s Human Rights Week 1995. It includes a statement sent to
the IHD on that occasion by Izmir War Resisters’ Association.

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Turkey's system of conscription for military service makes no provision for

conscientious objection. There are large numbers of draft evaders in Turkey, avoiding
conscription into the armed conflict with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in the
south-east. In contrast Osman Murat Ülke is emphatic that he is not a draft evader but a
resister. In the press conference he gave on 1 September 1995 he had stated, "I am not a
draft evader, but a conscientious objector. I neither think to escape nor to go to
conscription. I have no reason to escape from conscription because I am in favour of
people using their right not to be conscripted without having to hide. I am not a soldier
and I never will be... I will never, ever, conduct military service in any way."

Osman Murat Ülke was born on 15 October 1970 in Runderoth, Germany, as the
oldest son of Turkish migrant workers. His best childhood friend was a Spanish child
from whom he learned to speak Spanish, in addition to his German. But he could hardly
speak Turkish when his parents sent him back to Turkey at the age of 15 to continue his
education there. He attended a boarding school in Izmir and later the Antalya School of
Tourism.

During these years he became interested in politics, being fascinated by the ‘68
student movement and Mahatma Ghandi’s pacifist struggle. But his main interest was in
ecology, and he and a group of friends in Antalya started their own activities including
issuing a journal called Coelacanth. In 1992 at the time when he was due to begin his
military service he met a group of pacifists at a festival in Izmir whom he joined to set up
the Izmir War Resisters’ Association. He distributed their journal in Antalya. In 1994 he
participated in a conference of War Resisters International in Brazil.

Amnesty International believes that everyone should have the right to refuse to
perform military service for reasons of conscience or profound conviction arising from
religious, ethical, moral, humanitarian, philosophical, political or similar motives. Amnesty
International considers Osman Murat Ülke to be a prisoner of conscience and is calling
for his immediate and unconditional release. Amnesty International is also urging the
Turkish Government that provision be made for alternative civilian service for
conscientious objectors, in line with resolutions and recommendations by the United
Nations and the Council of Europe.

5. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The right to refuse military service for reasons of conscience is inherent in the notion of
freedom of thought, conscience and religion as laid down in a number of international
human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, recognized in its resolution

1989/59 of 8 March 1989 and reaffirmed in Resolution 1993/84 of 10 March 1993, "the
right of everyone to have conscientious objections to military service as a legitimate
exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as laid down in
article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as article 18 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". It furthermore recommended that
Member States "with a system of compulsory military service, where such provision has
not already been made...introduce for conscientious objectors various forms of
alternative service" (§ 3) which is "in principle of a non-combatant or civilian
character, in the public interest and not of a punitive nature" (§ 4).

In its Recommendation 1995/83 of 8 March 1995 the UN Commission on

Human Rights furthermore, "Reminds States with a system of compulsory military
service, where such provision has not already been made, of its recommendation that
they introduce for conscientious objectors various forms of alternative service which are
compatible with the reasons for conscientious objection and that they refrain from
subjecting conscientious objectors to imprisonment" (§ 5), and again,"Emphasizes that
such forms of alternative service should be of a non-combatant or civilian character, in
the public interest and not of a punitive nature" (§ 6).

Recommendation No. R (87) 8 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States

of the Council of Europe Regarding Conscientious Objection to Compulsory Military
Service of 9 April 1987 states that, "Anyone liable to conscription for military service
who, for compelling reasons of conscience, refuses to be involved in the use of arms,
shall have the right to be released from the obligation to perform such service... Such
persons may be liable to perform alternative service" (§ 1). It recommends that
"Alternative service shall not be of a punitive nature. Its duration shall, in comparison
to that of military service, remain within reasonable limits" (§ 10) and that alternative
service "shall be in principle civilian and in the public interest" (§ 9).

At the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the

CSCE (now renamed: OSCE - Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in
1990, the participating States of the Conference, which included Turkey, noted that the
UN Commission on Human Rights has recognized the right of everyone to have
conscientious objection to military service and agreed to consider introducing, where
this has not yet been done, various forms of alternative civilian service in the public
interest and of a non-punitive nature (§ 18).

On 11 March 1993 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on respect for

human rights in the European Community (now called: European Union). In the section
on conscientious objection it "Considers that the right of conscientious objection, as

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recognized by Resolution 1989/59 of the UN Commission on Human Rights on

conscientious objection to military service, should be incorporated in the legal system of
the Member States" (§ 46). It also: "Condemns the trials and imprisonment of
conscientious objectors in the Member States, many of whom have been regarded as
prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International" (§ 50).

Turkey is a Member State of the Council of Europe and of the OSCE and has
applied for full membership of the European Union.

STOP PRESS
On 3 April 1997 a fourth trial was opened against Osman Murat Ülke on four charges:

1. Desertion, because he did not report to the military unit in Bileçik after his release on
27 December 1996 by the Military Court in Eski_ehir; under Article 66/1a of the
Turkish Military Penal Code. Maximum sentence possible: three years.

2. Using the trick of claiming the right to conscientious objection in order to avoid
military service; under Article 81/1 of the Turkish Military Penal Code. Maximum
sentence possible: 10 years.

3. Draft evasion between 1992 and 1995; under Article 63/1a of the Turkish Military
Penal Code. Maximum sentence possible: two years.

4. Failing to join his military unit on time, having been enlisted as a conscript in August
1995 (after which he burned his call-up papers) and sent to his military unit at the end of
November 1996, following his arrest on 7 October 1996; under Article 63/1b of the
Turkish Military Penal Code. Maximum sentence possible: one year.

The next hearing in this trial will be on 1 May 1997 in the Military Court in Eski_ehir.

As Osman Murat Ülke continues to refuse to wear military uniform, which is a

disciplinary offence under the military prison regime, he was punished initially with a
one-month ban on receiving letters. This has been repeated since with an added ban on
visits. Letters which have arrived during the punishment period are being handed over at
the end of each such period. They should be addressed:
Osman Murat Ülke, 1. Taktik Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanl___, Eski_ehir, Turkey.

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